Hot Girls Read Podcast

Julia

I did it! I broke my reading slump! The cure has been twofold I believe; a) I went out and bought myself a new thriller/mystery to rip through and b) I have been cat-sitting the sweetest little cat who snuggles with me as I read. I’ll address point B first, which is that having a reading buddy/ cosy companion makes staying at home to read extremely appealing. For the first time in a long time, I spent most of this past weekend at home, reading in bed, and I was blissfully content doing so. Of course, I also had a spanking new book to read.

On Saturday, I made the pilgrimage to the large Smith&Son on the other side of town which I believe houses one of the largest collections of English language books in Paris (outside of the American Library). It had been so long since I had last bought myself some new books that upon entering the joint, I felt like a kid in a candy store – one of my favourite feelings. There were quite a few books that caught my eye, but I knew I had to be strategic about getting out of the slump. I needed something fiction, not too long but not too short either otherwise my escape from the slump would be short-lived. Then, I came across the latest Lucy Foley book, ‘A Midnight Feast’. I’m no stranger to Lucey Foley (see Season 2 Ep 13 The One Where We Deep Dive into ‘The Paris Apartment’), and while I’m not the biggest fan, I do find her set-ups intriguing, especially this one: a luxury hotel on the Dorset coast, a midnight feast, and a fated reunion of sorts. 

I did feel that the mood of the book walked the line between serious and comedic, and while I think comedy can be a great device in murder mystery, I’m not sure it felt entirely purposeful here. The climax of the story felt particularly comedic/verging on the ridiculous, giving it a tone which clashed with the darker, pagan/folk themes that also seemed to be a focal point of the story. I did enjoy the setting (I love anything that takes place on England’s coastline!), the multiple character POVs, and the dual timeline. However, while the multiple character POV made for quick reading, I didn’t feel like I was able to get close to any of the characters – they didn’t feel real to me. At 416 pages, I also felt like the book dragged on a little too long. Bref, it was fun and kept me flipping through the pages.